Child for a Long Time

"an old man is a child for a long time" is a quote I came across recently.

That hits home for me, since my favorite activities could be considered so simple as to be child like - riding my bicycle, walking, watching, experiencing what is special about every day.

And more and more I find that I favor those aspects of wild nature that appeal to my heart, rather than my intellect - the line of blue sky through the clouds, the hope in the yellow green color of new leaves on the cottonwoods, the fascination of a fox watching me and the dogs from the hill over by the cattail marsh.

Beauty and Discovery is the best of each day, and isnt that what appeals to children, before we loose our tendancy to overlook something that we think we know, that we have seen before.

And those are the the moments in the nature walks I give for children and their teachers - when we happen on something we hadnt expected, see something new, find something attractive.

On Friday,

On Saturday

And a moth ago

Children may not understand what they like about being out there - but the feeling evoked becomes part of their psyche, then later in their life they more explore more about it, and develop an intellectual fascination with the nature world, resulting from their caring about it.


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Linnea borealis, Aquilegia elegantula, Calypso bulbosa, is what I worked so hard to learn in college, and in the year thereafter. Nature was a source of intellectual fascination - I could not stop exploring the front range, the mountains, the western canyons, finding and naming all of the wild plants I could find.

But now I am remembering my earliest fascination with wild nature - when I was seven find a pond behind a gas station that was full of frogs and tadpoles. When I was a teenager hiking up a canyon with my dogs who suddenly would not go any further - but looked ahead and wined, then would go back and turn again, looking ahead past me, and wine some more. I turned back with them.

I remember the snake in the cavity at the base of the tree that had a girth like my leg - touching it with a stick and seeing it move. I recall the hidden canyon of three foot tall, in whorls of red flowers with black dots.

And what I am remember is before my intellectual fascination with nature, I loved it for the discovery and the beauty of the things I came across while wandering. I was hooked on the wild out there beyond the pavement, whether it was the field down at the end of the street or the nooks and crannies in the national forest that few people visited besides me and my dog.

Well its pretty clear that I have been returning to the passions of my youth - a second childhood, and this one might last longer then my first. When I come across them the scientific names of twinflower, red columbine, fairyslipper orchid fall into the background, and I am impressed with the delicate nature and sweet fragrance of the blossom, the vibrant red of the columbine, finding something of the divine in the lavender flowers of the native orchid, hidden in the shade of the forest - that I didn't see until I had been camped nearby for two days.

I also have a feeling of home when I am out there. I realize nature is harsh and unforgiving, and need to be careful, but also feel a connection up in the wilderness, and an awe and respect - for the mystery, for the beauty. Going up high is like ascending to the pillars of a cathedral that is beyond anything ever created by man. I feel closest to the divine up at the edge of timberline, when me and the dogs sit and watch darkness descend on the valley, see the rose of alpenglow on the peaks.

And being able to remember what it was like, as it is now, gives me an insight to sharing the wonder with children and their teachers on nature walks. Last friday we saw a bullsnake strike at a rabbit, just a few yards away, walked into the sweet fragrance of golden currant in bloom, stood on the bank of a lake as a ribbon snake swam away. They showed me toads crawling out of the pond to sun, that I missed. A month ago we saw the eagle on a log in the lake, with Longs Peak right behind it in the background. The children and I had the same feeling of fascination, of experiencing beauty.

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When I was a kid my first memory of being fascinated with nature was when I was seven, finding a behind a gas station that was full of frogs and tadpoles. In my teen years I recall hiking up a canyon with my dogs who suddenly would not go any further - but looked ahead and wined, then would go back and turn again, looking ahead past me, and wine some more. I turned back with them. I spent my summers away from school up in 'the canyon', coming across rattlesnakes, bighorn sheep, three foot tall lilies in secluded draws, jumping off of cliffs into pools.

My passion was wandering. Although I couldn't describe it at the time, I was hooked on discovery and beauty that one finds unexpectedly while in wild nature.

There is a saying that "an old man is a child for a long time". Now that I am ancient there is a good chance that this childhood will last longer than my first.

And more and more I find that I favor those aspects of wild nature that appeal to my heart, rather than my intellect - the line of blue sky through the clouds, the hope in the yellow green color of new leaves on the cottonwoods, the fascination of a fox watching me and the dogs from the hill over by the cattail marsh.

Beauty and Discovery is the best of each day, and isnt that what appeals to children, before we loose our tendancy to overlook something that we think we know, that we have seen before.

And those are the the moments in the nature walks I give for children and their teachers - when we happen on something we hadnt expected, see something new, find something attractive.